Video of the week: Marching bands.

I was part of my middle school’s marching band for the last two years I was there. Since I was a string player, our director put me as part of the drumline, playing the bass drum, both years. The marching band practiced only October through early December so we could play in the only parade we participated in, the South Gate Christmas Parade.

It really, really pained me to do it because my body was not completely designed to carry so much weight. After every practice I had to lie down because my back hurt much. Did I mention that after marching practice I had to go to gym and run around for a hour? All I wanted to do was rest. It was for this reason that I did not join my high school’s marching band. More after the jump.

Ever since then, I tend to think in marching band terms. When I see a marching band, I look at how they turn, their steps, what drum cadences (I think that’s the correct word) are used to bring the band to attention, and a myriad of other things in the marching band. When I walk I sometimes fall in time with a song played near me or by my iPod. I do it without realizing it.

College football season is nearing its end and big games are coming up, namely UCLA-USC (Go Bruins!), and Bowl games are fast approaching. This past weekend was Harvard-Yale at Yale. Harvard decimated Yale, 37-6, not only for the win but for the Ivy League Championship. A number of my friends at Yale could not believe they lost and so decisively to Harvard. Yale was expected to win, not only because they were playing at home but because they were undefeated, while Harvard had two defeats. I digress. What signifies college football more than halftime band routines?

This Sunday I stumbled upon this video on YouTube of a halftime show of a college football game between Cal and Washington State on November 3rd. Based on the tags on this video, I’ll say it is the Cal Band (someone from South Gate is in it!) and this day their halftime routine was a medley of video games. This video brought back good memories, namely the Pokémon theme song and the Mario Underwater song. The songs in this video are:

Enjoy Thanksgiving (or Thankstaking, however you look at it). Thanksgiving falls on St. Cecilia’s Day, November 22. Who is Santa Cecilia? The patron saint of musicians and poets. What will I do that day? Play music. I haven’t touched my guitar. I should take it out, dust if off, and play it a bit. I missed out on this year’s Mariachi Festival in East LA, held in celebration of Santa Cecilia and mariachi music, when you get down to it. Images of the festival are at View from a loft. I have a dinner in Cambridge and a party in Boston to attend and Friday I go to a Lakers-Celtics game. I do not have any Laker gear anymore, but I do have my Dodgers cap and N.W.A shirt. That’s LA enough, right?

One Response

I love watching half time shows (I saw this video posted on another blog). My memories of band are much less painful. I did it throughout high school and the first couple of years of college. We learned the shows a lot quicker in college where we had a pre-game show and a few half-time shows.

I find myself still rolling my feet when I march. If I still went to football games, I’d probably notice things like their formations on the field, the spacing and try to find mistakes.